“Hood Canal’s pier of peril”

Gravel miner proposes monstrous moorage for huge ships, barges plying pristine waters.

By John Fabian

 While much has been written about current threats to Hood Canal, including pollution and low oxygen levels, the greatest threat is still on the horizon; yet very real.

 This pristine body of water and its surroundings are in danger of industrialization and commercial shipping that could forever alter the tenuous ecological balance of the canal.

 Fred Hill Materials (FHM), a Poulsbo sand and gravel company, has applied for permits to build a 4-mile long conveyor belt leading to a 1000-foot pier and 900-foot moorage just north of Thorndyke Bay. 

 Here, barges carrying 5,000 to 20,000 tons would be filled with gravel.  The largest of these barges are bigger than any operating in Puget Sound today - approximately a full acre in size.  That’s the size of an entire football field, including the end zones.

 Yet, that is just the beginning.  In a few years, 60,000 ton ore ships - the size of  NATO aircraft carriers - would begin to enter the canal for gravel loading at the pier. 

 It is the size of these enormous vessels that determines the design height of the pier - 91-feet tall.  A nine story industrial pier, three football fields long, located a mile from one of the most productive estuaries in Puget Sound. This would be located, no kidding, on a rural residential lot

 The huge ships and barges would transit the Hood Canal Bridge congesting traffic and risking a barge-bridge or ship-bridge collision that could destroy the sole lifeline to the Olympic Peninsula.  While FHM has said that all barges would pass beneath the elevated portion of the bridge, logic, history and prudence say otherwise. 

 While FHM has acknowledged that gravel will be shipped to regional and west coast markets, documents the firm provided to the Governor’s office in 2001 claimed that the project would make them economically competitive from Seattle to Singapore.

 Ships and barges may bring all of the pollution and contamination concerns common to every harbor in the world - Oil, diesel and gravel spills, 24/7 noise, dust and carcinogenic diesel exhaust, and invasive species carried on international and interstate ships and barges. All could threaten the future of the canal and set a dangerous precedent for future development.

 Nearly 30 years ago, a similar, but smaller,  project was approved by Mason County at the mouth of the Hamma Hamma River.  Fortunately, Attorney General Slade Gorton, the Department of Ecology, and the Hood Canal Environmental Council successfully appealed the decision to the Shorelines Hearings Board. 

 A critical part of the State’s argument was stated thus: “It is the contention of the appellants that the proposed project would establish a significant precedent affecting the land uses of a prime estuarine area of Hood Canal and as well the fundamental recreational character of Hood Canal.” 

 That wise decision saved the canal and its surrounding environment for future generations.  Today, the same issues must be considered anew. The current proposal must be critically evaluated to protect the public’s interest in the canal and ensure that all environmental factors are considered.

In the upland area, wetlands, lakes and streams form the natural habitat and spawning grounds for countless species.  The shoreline is designated as a “Shoreline of Statewide Significance” and as “Conservancy” in the Jefferson County Shoreline Master Program.  The pier site is rich with sand dollar beds, geoducks, clams, and other shellfish.  There are salmon runs and eelgrass beds along the beach.  It is also home to eagles, herons, osprey, hawks and other wildlife.  The public’s interest is wide and must be carefully protected.

 This project will probably be in the permitting stage for years.  While a number of State and Federal agencies will have to rule on the advisability of such a huge project, so will officials in Jefferson County.  Will they learn from the lessons of Mason County and the Hamma Hamma River permits?

 Already, the Jefferson County Commissioners have approved, for FHM, a 690-acre mineral resource land (MRL) overlay designation that facilitates the gravel strip mining operation.  Ultimately, every year, seven to 10-million tons of gravel would be mined, crushed and sent down the conveyor belt to the pier and waiting ships and barges.

 Many local and regional citizens have joined in opposition to this "Pit-to-Pier" project.  The leading organization is the Hood Canal Coalition which has grown to over 2000 individual members in the past 18 months.  Also involved in the opposition are 40 environmental, community, political, business, and sporting organizations.

 The ultimate decision on the Pit-to-Pier project will not affect only those who live on or near Hood Canal.  As a result, the Hood Canal Coalition through many of its partner organizations, is expanding the scope of its membership recruiting efforts.  Decision makers in Olympia and Washington DC need to sense that the citizens of our state do not support, and will not welcome, this massive destruction of one our most precious natural wonders.

 Interested citizens can find more descriptive material at www.hoodcanalcoalition.org.  

 John Fabian, who holds a PhD in engineering from the University of Washington, has served as an Air Force combat pilot and NASA astronaut on two space shuttle missions.  After his military career, he headed a large research institute in Washington D.C.  Now retired, he lives in Port Ludlow.  More information from the Hood Canal Coalition can be obtained at www.hoodcanalcoalition.org.